7th Street Entry

Wednesday, 31 October 2018

Los Angeles’ Ian Sweet (aka Jilian Medford) will be stopping by the 7th Street Entry in support of her new album Crush Crusher (available October 26th on Hardly Art). She’s bringing Young Jesus with her on this tour.
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She’s bringing Young Jesus with her on this tour.
Tour dates:
10/20 - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
10/22 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
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Los Angeles’ Ian Sweet headlined the 7th Street Entry on Monday, October 29, as part of her tour for her new album Crush Crusher (Hardly Art Records).

Opening the show was fellow LA’s Young Jesus, who actually was over 15 minutes late from the announced set time. Their fans waited patiently, and quickly gathered to the dance floor when the band came on stage.

The full rock band (singer and guitarist John Rossiter, keyboardist Eric Shevrin, bassist/composer Marcel Borbon, and drummer Kern Haug) worked together well as a unit, and played tracks from their latest The Whole Thing Is Just There (Saddle Creek). As the title suggest, it’s an artist’s view of a blank canvas, and sometime the band would improvise and create something new out of their live performance.

Since their set was delayed, it bled into the start time of Ian Sweet (aka Jilian Medford). The last time Ian Sweet was in town it was with Girlpool in May 2017 and again with Ted Leo in November 2017. They’re already familiar with the city, but they may have very short-term memory of it. Band leader, singer, guitarist Jilian Medford even joked about it, after playing “You Confuse Me”, she said that someone asked her where they played last night and it took over three minutes for her to remember. She actually didn’t say where they played (which tells me she didn’t actually remember!), but it was at O’Leavers in Omaha.

Most of Ian Sweet’s quiet/lo-fi set featured songs from her new album Crush Crusher, including “Hiding”. The single is about living in a freezing Brooklyn apartment after her long tour schedule. The song addresses many of Medford’s anxieties, and is perfect when she ended up moving from Boston to Los Angeles.

The thing about Perth, Australia's Pond is that three band members is actually in another, more successful Australian band Tame Impala. Although, it would seem that Pond
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Psychedelic rock band Pond (Nick Allbrook, Jay Watson, Joe Ryan and Jamie Terry) is played the 7th Street Entry on Wednesday, October 24th.

Opening the show was Denver (but based in Los Angeles currently) Sur Ellz, with, “a brand new setup”, referring to his music machine. His style is laidback soul with lots of loops and beats.

The new music setup had its problem, as on his last song, he had some technical difficulties and the song was delayed... but it didn’t really go over the given 30-min time slot.

Fresh from their recent appearance at Desert Daze, Australia’s Pond (not to be confused with American 90s band Pond) has sold out their 7th Street Entry appearance. It shouldn’t be a surprise, given how hot psych rock is at the moment... and the fact that Pond’s members are also in the incredibly popular Tame Impala. At Desert Daze, on the
first night, Jess wrote, “Australian band Pond, founded by Tame Impala’s touring members Nick Allbrook and Jay Watson started their set with 30,000 Megatons off their 2017 album The Weather. This track makes me think of David Bowie’s Space Oddity, and Nick Allbrook himself is an alien and bizarre and alive. Fascinating to watch and never skipping a beat, this band is a riot and dazzled the crowd right into basically the entirety of The Weather, and also debuted the song “Burned Out Star”. This one was a true crowd-pleaser and nice little warm-up to the anticipated Tame Impala set.”

What else can we add about the 7th Street Entry show, is that given a headlining time, the band can stretch out their songs, almost jam-like. It’s not uncommon for a five minute song to become ten minutes live. Again, starting with set intro song “30,000 Megatons”, the boys rocked with leader Nick Allbrook doing some of his most funkiest dance moves.

The group mostly played songs from their seventh studio album
The Weather, including their title track as set closer.

Morgan Saint is known for her magnetic live show and striking visual presence and she recently released Alien (Epic Records) on October 5th.
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Indie Los Angeles band Lovelytheband (stylized as lovelytheband) headlined the sold-out 7th Street Entry show on Sunday, October 21.

Apology to Blacktop Queen, who started the show. We were on time, but had issues getting permission to bring in a camera into the venue. We hope to catch Blacktop Queen at another time.

Next up was New York singer/songwriter Morgan Saint, showing up in a T-Shirt three times her size. She is joined on stage with a keyboard player and a drummer (introduced as Dan). The 7th Street Entry show was special, because it was the last date on her tour. Although she said she love meeting new friends and performing, admittedly she said, “I’m excited to be back in my own bed.”

Morgan Saint’s set is full of very personal and heart felt song, as an example “Glass House” was introduced as, “this is my most personal song I’ve ever written.” The song is about being broken, and asking someone to understand. You get a sense that the person does not respond to the protagonist, even though the song is demanding love (“F**king love me now, love me now, love me now”).

“Just Friends” is perhaps Morgan Saint’s biggest hit song of the night. The fans in front were all too happy to sing along (and finishing her song!) If anything, Saint’s songs touch something in people, especially wanting someone, needing someone, but ultimately being rejected by that person.

The most memorable part of her set near the end of the closing song, “New Regime”, the stage was invaded by lovelytheband’s singer Mitchy Collins. He brought drinks for everyone and helped sing the final stanza to the last song.
If there was a rare happiness in Morgan Saint’s life, it’s probably this moment.

Morgan Saint’s sophomore album Alien is out now on Epic Records.

One of the hottest American indie pop band has to be Los Angeles’ lovelytheband (featuring vocalist Mitchy Collins, guitarist Jordan Greenwald, and drummer Sam Price). The band is known for their signature song, “Broken”, which closed out their set.

“Broken” which was a top hit for the band, and in fact, it was recently announced that the single is now certified gold by the RIAA. It’s easy to see why, the song has a very bouncy beat, but lyrically is very complicated and emotional. It’s about not belonging, but meeting another person “just as broken like me.”

Based on hearing Mitchy Collins talk, he is really happy about the turn out to many of their headlining shows. This was the last U.S. show and the band was excited to head over to the U.K., where they will be the support act for 5 Seconds of Summer.

Landscape is the new album from Future Generations. To promote the record, the five friends (Eddie Gore on vocals, Mike Sansevere on synthesizer, Eric Grossman on guitar, Devon Sheridan
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Brooklyn’s Future Generations stopped by the 7th Street Entry on Tuesday, October 16th, to promote sophomore album Landscape (Frenchkiss Records).

Starting the show was Sartell’s Guytano (brothers Grant and Eddie Hamilton, and Isaac Hesse). The group looks incredibly young (some of them having “X” on their hands to indicate to not serve alcohol to them)... despite the fact that they’re considered seasoned players now, having been performing since the age of 10.

Most of their set were songs from their debut album I Am Inside My Body, including the single “Fall Back in Your Arms”.

Next up was Long Island’s Zuli (aka Ryan Camenzuli), a singer/songwriter with a weird odd angle slant singing in the microphone. Maybe someone didn’t put the mic stand correctly, but you got the impression that’s just the way he sings.

Zuli mentioned that this was, “First time here at 7th Street. Cool place.” Then one of his band mates said something to the extent that they’ve been here before, it’s just Zuli.

Near the end of their set, they tested out two new songs, something with the lines “I’m Used to You Using Me” and “Getting Better All The Time”. It appears that these new songs will be appearing in a new album.

Future Generations (Eddie Gore on vocals, Mike Sansevere on synthesizer, Eric Grossman on guitar, Devon Sheridan on bass, and Dylan Wells on drums) looked like they’ve been enjoying seeing the countryside on this tour. The five band members have been friends for a long time, in fact, they all live together in Brooklyn, New York. They’re used to dealing with small spaces and long length of time near each other.

Now with two albums, their 2016 self-titled debut and Landscape, the synthpop-sounding song “Out Loud”.

KING TUFF
+ Cut Worms, SASAMI
Turf Club
Sat 05/26/2018 (8pm/$15)
King Tuff (aka Kyle Thomas) will be back in town at the Turf Club on Saturday, May 26th. We previously caught him
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Soccer Mommy (aka Sophie Allison) sold out her appearance at the 7th Street Entry on a busy Friday night (October 5).

The show started with Los Angeles’ Sasami (Sasami Ashworth). It felt like she was just in town (with King Tuff at the Turf Club in May 2018), so she seemed at home in Minneapolis.

Music has always been part of Sasami’s life, from starting with the French horn in orchestras, graduating from Eastman School of music, to joining local rock bands like Dirt Dress (playing synth). After leaving the group Cherry Glazerr, Sasami decided to strike on her solo career, working on her much anticipated solo album (set for release in early 2019). We got glimpses of it from her brief set, including the latest release, “Callous”.

Sasami is still relatively new to the scene, but expect her to build a solid fanbase, especially if she continues to tour with like-minded women like Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, or Mitski.

We’ve been following Soccer Mommy since before her record came out in Nov 2017 (where she previewed some untitled songs), to her semi-recent support for Liz Phair in June 2018. Allison remarked about her previous shows, “We’ve been here a couple of times.” Then noting about the cold weather, “It’s not that bad, compared to Tennessee where it’s hot and disgusting.” She’s joking, of course, she lives in Tennessee.

The headlining set was an extended version of her June show, including a solo, deliberately-sadden, stripped-down version of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire”. In some ways, an improvement over the original classic song.

The new item on the bill is actually an old song, “Henry”, however it’s been changed and re-arranged to warrant an asterisk next to it. Think of it like New Order’s “Blue Monday” and “Blue Monday 88”, they are the same song, but different.

As for the sold-out audience, the majority of the attendees were young women. Most of them were under 21 (you can tell by the X marker on the back of their hands) and it’s a good sign for Sophie Allison.

Saturday, 06 October 2018

Ryley Walker is hitting the road again, touring in support of his new third record Golden Sings That Have Been Sung (Dead Oceans). The Leroy Bach-produced record is described as “a warm Chicago evening, a sonic exploration
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Chicago experimentalist Ryley Walker headlined the 7th Street Entry on October 4, touring to spread the word that he’s re-imagined Dave Matthews Band’s lost 2001 album The Lillywhite Sessions. The record will arrive November 16 on Dead Oceans.

Opening up for Walker was fellow Chicagoan long-standing musical project Health&Beauty (aka Brian Sulpizio). If you ever worked in a department store, you may know that the make-up section is referred to as Health & Beauty, or “HABA” (health and beauty aid) for short. Anyway, the Sulpizio would also double as Walker’s guitarist, along with bassist Andrew Young and drummer Ryan Jewell, for his main set… billed with imagination as Ryley Walker and Band.

Ryley Walker

If you count how many songs the band play, often stealing from other musicians (which Walker would be the first to confess), it’s not very much. Perhaps only eight songs were played, but for Walker and Band, they extend each song in long jams… followed by long stories about Walker’s youth. For example, how rad it was to work at his favorite job at Culver’s. Well, it was his favorite job, that is, until he “discovered the dark arts of Built to Spill”.

UK’s Island (not to be confused with Canada/California’s Islands) is on their first North American tour, and they are stopping by the 7th Street Entry on Saturday, September 29th. The group’s debut album Feels Like Air is available now on Frenchkiss Records.
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UK’s Island (stylized as ISLAND) stopped by the 7th Street Entry on Saturday, September 29th, touring in support of the group’s debut album Feels Like Air (Frenchkiss Records).

The show started with Dekam & Johnson, two best friends Noah DeKam and Logan Johnson. They are joined on stage by a cajón player Patrick Phalen (normally on drums?) and bassist Robbie Weisshaar.

Noah and Logan took turns on singing, but occasional singing in unison (“Hanging Around”). They sound like adult contemporary music, but lists Prince and Bruno Mars as some of their influences. I suppose their R&B influence might account for their Alicia Keys cover song “If I Ain't Got You”.

Originally Brooklyn/Florida duo The Blancos was supposed to open, but for whatever reason, they dropped out of the bill. DPLV filled in. The synthy/chillwave/EDM duo used a lot of pre-recorded samples and sound effects, which required them to stay in perfect timing/sync, and unfortunately they had to “re-do” and restarted on a few song (“Look Back” was started twice and “Take My Breath Away” had to be restarted). It was kind of sloppy, but I don’t think the guys cared and they were having a good time anyway.

During their set, they gave us some facts about themselves, that they were both middle children and skateboarding buddies.

The Top Gun song “Take My Breath Away” (performed by Berlin), was probably the highlight of the set.

Island came on stage to a dark atmospheric lighting (which remained consistently dark throughout the show). The London band features singer/guitarist Rollo Doherty, guitarist Jack Raeder, bassist James Wolfe, and drummer Toby Richards, and it’s their first time in America. We got to talk to the traveling crew and they told us that they weren’t used to the Minneapolis coldness (it’s September after all). They said, “I know it gets cold in London, but it’s not like here (Minneapolis)...” and continued to talk about how they were in Phoenix and that was extremely hot.

It’s a learning experience, and you can tell the rest of the band is very excited to be in such a foreign country to them.
In fact, singer Rollo Doherty, introducing the song “I’ve Been Searching”, tried to blend in as an American and started using phrases he thinks Americans would say: “We’re going old school on your asses! ... Do you guys say things like that?”

In typical debut album tour, the band would play practically every song (or most songs) off their debut album, and it’s no different for Island. Except in their case, they actually released a few EPs pre-album, including A Place You Like and Girl.

The biggest challenge for Island isn’t about gaining new fans, because there’s certainly a group that were really into this new band and were praising the UK band’s music. The biggest challenge is that their name is has already been used by numerous other bands/musicians: Swiss progressive group Island, Eurovision (Cyprus)'s Island, German metal band Island, Chicago’s jazz/psychedelic rock band Island, Island Records, and Canada’s Islands. I guess it’s like that old paraphrase, no band is an island...

Special guest Los Angeles’ Hana Vu to open. The 18 year old self-produced her EP earlier this year, and straight out of high school is heading out on a national tour. I think I misspent my summer when I was 18... .…

Florida’s Sales (Lauren Morgan and Jordan Shih) sold out the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis on Wednesday, September 5th.

California’s Hana Vu opened the show. The 18-year-old is joined on stage by guitarist Christian Wright, bassist Sebastian Jones, and drummer Jair Hernandez.

After spending 30 hours driving in a car, Hana Vu was happy and relieved to finally play for us. Although Vu had written and recorded three albums (about 30 songs) since 2014, this was the first time the group went out on a national tour, with the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis a first stop for the band. Vu mentioned early in their set, “This is our first time not in California. The first time ever.”

Before ending their brief set with “Landscapes”, Vu mentioned that she tried to request “one of Chris’ songs” on the radio, but they didn’t play it.

The band is very young, but given the fact that they were well-rehearsed and in good company with Tegan & Sara and Soccer Mommy, expect a bright future for Hana Vu.

Sales closed out the show. For live shows, the duo is joined by their touring drummer, Malcolm Martin.

I have criticized the band for having a common name, but it should not be a reflection on Sales’ strong growing fanbase. It’s really amazing that with no press relations and no record label, the duo still managed to sell out many of their shows on this tour. This is thanks to word-of-mouth, heartfelt songs, and the BBC.

Singer Lauren Morgan was quite pleased at the turnout, “We’ve been here before, but this is the first time we sold this place out!”

Sales’ Forever & Ever album is out now. It was written, recorded, mixed and mastered in their bedroom in Orlando, Florida. Mixed and mastered by their touring audio engineer, Michael Thomas Regina.

Juice just played their first Minneapolis show at the 7th Street Entry on Tuesday, September 4th.

Since Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers canceled their appearance, the lone local band Radiochurch opened up the show. The quartet features singer Ellis Cleve, guitarist Trevor Wiest, keyboardist Jack Barrett, and drummer Lars Johnson.

Ellis made several comments about playing on a Tuesday, such as “Who’s favorite day of the week is Tuesday?” Answer, “Nobody’s.” They still thanked us for coming out on a workday/school night, and made us feel warm on a chilly rainy night.

Musically, Radiochurch did not sound gospel, as you might expect from the band name, but was had a surprisingly smooth sound.

Boston’s Juice is normally a 7-piece band, but looking over my photographs, it appears that acoustic guitarist
Kamau Burton was missing from the lineup. The band in attendance was singer Ben Stevens, violinist Christian Rose, guitarist Dan Moss, drummer Miles Clyatt, bassist Rami El-Abidin, and guitarist Michael Ricciardulli.

25 bands called “Juice”

To start, I have to address that there are just too many “Juice” bands. As proof, I’ve included a screen print of 25 bands called “Juice”, 26 if you wanted to add Japanese all-girls band Juice=Juice. If the band insists on keeping the name, they may run into legal problems down the road, when the other Juice bands come after them.

Anyway, the R&B band got a lot of attention when they won the grand $20k prize for the Land The Big Gig Competition at Summerfest. By this time (2016), they already had a self-titled album, with “Gold” as the lead single.

The band’s setlist is mostly songs from their self-titled, but throwing in some tracks from their new EP Workin’ on Lovin’... which, when they introduce the new songs as “dance” songs.

As previously mentioned, this was the band’s first time playing in Minneapolis. However, vocalist Ben Stevens added that, “It’s not the first time we’ve been here before.” Possibly referring to friends and family in attendance.

Juice is stopping by the Schubas Tavern in Chicago tonight. For a Friday night, and a very populated city like Chicago, the group will have a great time tonight.

If you love Wire (that influential band that Elastica ripped off), you need to check out Immersion at 7th Street Entry this Thursday. Immersion is the Brighton-based duo featuring Wire frontman Colin Newman and Minimal Compact’s
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Flavor Crystals were up next, they played hard psych rock in poor lighting. Very little lyrics, but lots of high energy guitar playing with emphasis on psych and kraut rock. …

Brighton’s Immersion (Colin Newman and Malka Spigel) stopped by the 7th Street Entry on Thursday to play some instrumental tracks from their latest Sleepless (swim~ Records).

Local kraut/psych band Flavor Crystals opened the show. As usual, low light and minimum lyrics were on the menu for this band. I’ve mentioned before that singer Josh Richardson actually has trouble remembering some of their lyrics, so their songs are often stretched out and very long. For this night, their performance was very “droney”. That’s because Immersion’s Colin Newman asked the group to play their set without drums.

It’s hard to talk about Immersion without talking about how influential Wire is to the punk rock scene in the 1970s and 1980s. Wire, had always had a great fast-paced guitar-driven sound and great vocals from Colin Newman. The same can be said for Minimal Compact, the Israeli rock band often associated with the post-punk/indie rock sound… So if you were expecting that same art/punk/indie sound, you may be disappointed in Immersion, as they sound nothing like their predecessor.

Still, I can understand why the two wanted to do something new and different. Immersion didn’t require a full band (guitars, drum kits, etc) and didn’t require Newman to sing. Their music is more spaced out, acid, ambient, and definitely experimental.

Although the duo had a projection to show custom films, it didn’t really sync with the music, and only served as something fun to watch while you enjoy the music. Let’s face it, watching two people staring intensely down at their music machine and pushing buttons, isn’t the most exciting thing in the world. That’s not really the point in these electronic soundscape shows, it’s about going on a musical journey that the two presented in their new album Sleepless (swim~ Records).

Although one of their song “Propulsoid”, would have benefit from a live drumming from Matt Schulz ( of Holy F**k), he won’t be joining the duo until the next night (Chicago) and staying until the end of their U.S. tour.